Nottinghamshire
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ASSOCIATION FOR INDUSTRIAL ARCHAEOLOGY ANNUAL CONFERENCE 2018 TOUR NOTES NOTTINGHAMSHIRE WRITTEN BY MARILYN PALMER, WITH CONTRIBUTIONS BY AMBER PATRICK CONTENTS Introduction 1 Tour A. Wollaton Hall and Nottingham Industrial Museum 3 Tour B. The Nottingham Canal and the Lace Market 5 Tour C. Green’s Mill and Nottingham Caves 8 Tour D. Steam Engines for Water Supply and Coal Mining 10 Route Maps: Tours D–H 14 Tour E. Maltings, Breweries and a River Port: Newark-on-Trent 16 Tour F. Canals and Railways in the Erewash Valley and the Bennerley Viaduct 20 Tour G. Bells, Steam Engines and a Railway Tunnel 23 Tour H. Ruddington: Framework Knitting and Transport Heritage 27 © Crown copyright. Central Bedfordshire Council Licence No. 100049029 (2011) DESTINATIONS FOR TOURS A, B & C NOTTINGHAM LACE MARKET GREEN’S MILL WOLLATON HALL NOTTINGHAM CAVES NOTTINGHAM AND BEESTON CANAL NOTTINGHAM UNIVERSITY 0 2km Tour A Tour B 0 1 mile Tour C INTRODUCTION This conference explores parts of the county also had large resources of county of Nottinghamshire, with short clay, coal and ironstone; the shal- excursions into neighbouring Leices- lower seams in the west have been tershire and Derbyshire. The settle- worked since the late Middle Ages, ment pattern of the region is gener- with the coalfield moving eastwards ally one of market towns and nucle- as deeper seams were tapped. ated villages rather than scattered Clipstone, with its surviving Koepe hamlets, since open-field farming winders, was one of the last pits to be survived longer in Nottinghamshire worked. The River Trent provided an than elsewhere, and the county is outlet to the east coast, through the proud of the survival of Laxton, the important port of Newark-on-Trent, only remaining working open-field and the network of canals linking the village still farming on this ancient coalfield to this major river began system. Parliamentary enclosure with the Erewash Canal in 1779. tended to consolidate the ‘village’ Horse-drawn tramways provided links landscape and intensified the devel- to the canals, but the first locomotive opment of rural industry as displaced railway in the area was the Leicester small farmers – and their families – and Swannington in Leicestershire, diversified into activities such as opened in 1832 and prompted by the framework knitting, the mainstay of access that the Soar Navigation and much of the East Midlands economy the Nottinghamshire canals had until the late 19th century. The prob- provided for Nottinghamshire rather able birthplace of William Lee, inven- than Leicestershire coal. The last tor of the knitting frame in 1589, is mainline railway to be built before the Calverton in Nottinghamshire, and 21st century high-speed lines was the Nottingham became an international Great Central Railway, opened to centre for machine-made lace. London in 1899 and now the UK’s only double-track steam-powered The geology of the county, however, mainline heritage railway, which will led to a different landscape. The hopefully soon run all the way from Triassic sandstone was honeycombed Ruddington in Nottinghamshire to with caves in Nottingham itself, Leicester. providing spaces both for living and working in a town that remained University Park Campus, Nottingham, confined by its open fields until the was opened in 1928, when the entire mid-19th century. Resting on imper- university was housed in the Trent vious clay, this also formed an aquifer Building. D.H. Lawrence, born in to the north which was extensively nearby Eastwood, wrote in his collec- tapped for Nottingham’s water supply tion of poems, Pansies – really once the town began to grow. The Pensées, thoughts – that: In Nottingham, that dismal town where I went to school and college, they've built a new university for a new dispensation of knowledge. Built it most grand and cakeily out of the noble loot derived from shrewd cash-chemistry by good Sir Jesse Boot. 1 The campus has its own history and some interesting walks around its land- scaped grounds. There are two walks, one looking at the geology of the site, www.nottingham.ac.uk/sustainability/documents/geologyguide.pdf, while the other walk takes in the historic buildings and gardens of the campus, www.lakesidearts.org.uk/SiteData/Root/File/Visit%20us/heritageguide.pdf Further reading on the industrial heritage of the region (mostly out of print but obtainable from specialist booksellers): Barton, B. 2016. Civil Engineering Heritage: East Midlands, Institution of Civil Engineers’ Panel for Historical Engineering Work (Ruddocks) Beckett, J.V. 1997. A Centenary History of Nottingham (Manchester Univer- sity Press) Griffin, A.R. 1981. The Nottinghamshire Coalfield 1881-1981: A Century of Progress (Moorland Books) Hadfield, C. 1970. Canals of the East Midlands (David and Charles) Leleux, R. 1976. A Regional History of the Railways of Great Britain. Vol. 9, The East Midlands (David and Charles) Mason, S.A. 1984. Nottingham Lace, 1760s-1950s (Alan Sutton) Palmer, M. and Neaverson, P. A. 1992. Industrial Landscapes of the East Midlands (Phillimore) Palmer. M. 1984. Framework Knitting (Shire) Smith, D.M. 1965. The Industrial Archaeology of the East Midlands (David and Charles) Stocker, D. 2006. England’s Landscape: the East Midlands (English Heritage) Coaches for all tours will depart from Lenton Hall Drive to the rear of Hugh Stewart Hall. Please be prompt, as many of the tours are on a tight schedule. Remember to bring appropriate clothing and footwear with you. Maps showing the coach routes that we will take for Tours D-H can be found in the centre pages of this booklet; locations of the venues which we will visit for Tours A-C can be found inside the front cover. These notes were compiled by Marilyn Palmer, with contributions from Amber Patrick. David Ingham has been responsible for the layout, typesetting and maps. Photographs are copyright to Marilyn Palmer except for those individu- ally credited. Cover photograph: Cylinder head for one of the Papplewick beam engines © Association for Industrial Archaeology and named photographers, 2018 2 SUNDAY 2nd SEPTEMBER TOUR A WOLLATON HALL AND NOTTINGHAM INDUSTRIAL MUSEUM Site conditions The tour of Wollaton Hall involves some steps down to the basement and Admiral’s Bath. The route to the Prospect Tower involves 67 steps and a narrow circular staircase, but it is possible to omit this part of the tour if so desired. There are some steps down to the Stable Block where the Industrial Museum is located. Toilet facilities are available at both sites, and tea will be served in the Industrial Museum. Wollaton Hall Tudor Kitchens and Council, and opened as a museum Prospect Tower: c. 2 – 3pm in 1925, largely housing natural history. It re-opened in April 2007 The coach will take us into Wollaton after being closed for refurbishment. Park, just to the north of the Univer- The gallery of the main hall contains sity. The Hall is a visually stunning Nottinghamshire's oldest pipe organ, building which was designed by the thought to date from the end of the architect Robert Smythson and built 17th century and still blown by hand. for Sir Francis Willoughby in the Beneath the hall are many cellars late 16th century, but was partially and passages in the sandstone, and modernised by Sir Jeffrey Wyatville a well and associated reservoir tank, in the early 19th century. By the in which some accounts report that 1880s, the Willoughby family had an admiral in the Willoughby family decided that the house was too near took a daily bath. The Tudor Kitchen the smoke and busy activity of a is also in the basement. The climb to large manufacturing town, and it the Prospect Tower is rewarded by a was let to tenants until vacated by tremendous view over the park and 1881. It was bought by Nottingham the city of Nottingham. Wollaton Hall 3 Nottingham Industrial Museum: c. 3:15 – 5pm The museum is situated in the court- yard of the splendid stable block below the Hall. This dates from the 18th century and is built of red brick with an elaborate ashlar south façade and portico. The museum opened in 1970, partly to house one of the two 60hp compound beam engines by R and W Hawthorn of Newcastle upon Tyne, dating from 1857, which came from Basford Pumping station when these were replaced by electric pumps. Nottingham was fortunate in having Sir Thomas Hawksley, a far-sighted engineer who was born in the city, as its water engineer for half-a century, as well as the wonderfully named Basford pumping engine, Nottingham Industrial Marriott Ogle Tarbotton as Borough Museum Surveyor. They were also responsible for Papplewick Pumping Station tions gallery, a horizontal mill engine (see Tour D). The Basford engine from a local brickworks and a number was placed in a purpose-built steel of tractors and other road vehicles. and glass building in 1972-4 and is Like many such museums, the City regularly steamed. The museum has Council withdrew funding in 2009 and collections illustrating Nottingham’s it is now run by volunteers. Sadly, the industrial history, including a variety horse gin from Pinxton Pit in Mansfield of lace machines, bicycles made by has disintegrated and is likely to find Raleigh and Humber, as well as motor a new home at the Lancashire Mining bicycles made by Brough’s. There Museum at Astley Green. is also an interesting telecommunica- Brough's motorcycles, Nottingham Industrial Museum 4 SUNDAY 2nd SEPTEMBER TOUR B THE NOTTINGHAM CANAL AND THE LACE MARKET Site conditions This is a walking tour on pavements and the paved canal towpath. It will be about three miles in total, taken very slowly. There are some steps down from Weekday Cross to the canal and along the towpath.